Easter Eggs

Ice Age Egg

There are couple of mammoth skeletons frozen in the ice around Saarthal. At the bottom there is a mammoth stuffed in the ice killed with spears and arrows. You can go to the site walking straight from the dwemer place.

Sovngarde Secret

I don't know if anyone noticed this but the big stone statues in Sovngarde will look at you i mean look in the direction you are moving. If it doesn't happen for you first try looking at sky for sometime then they will look.

Assassin's Creed Reference

A nod to a well-loved franchise, the "leap of faith" is an acrobatic performed by the protagonists of Assassin's Creed. The video here depicts a Skyrim character that can also perform the leap of faith and gain a Speech level while he's at it.

Another one can be found in the "A Deadra's Best Friend" quest. At the shrine of Calvicus Vile, before you talk to him, you will have to kill bunch of vampires. Search them, and among their items you will find an Ebony Sword Of Animus, which might very well be a refrence to the machine, the "Animus", developed by the Templars in the Assassin's Creed franchise.

Pac-Man Cheese Wedge

300 Reference

If you head just south of the Shrine to Peryite, only small journey west of Karthwasten, North-North East of The Lover Stone, it requires some mountaineering you will come across a skeleton (about halfway up the mountain). If you look just to the side of the skeleton you will see a sabre cat stuck between two rocks with a glass sword through its mouth and head. This is a reference to the scene of 300 where Leonidas leads a wolf to a narrow passage then stabs it through the mouth with a spear.

The western area of the map known as "The Reach" also contains terrain very similar to that in the movie. In the video below, you can see that the Spartans are fighting the Persians on a cliff next to the sea, as in the movie.

Loading Screens

Bethesda anticipated some lengthy (uninstalled) load times for Skyrim, so to bide your time you can use the analog sticks to rotate and zoom in and out on the figure on-screen.

Old School Character Creation Reference

Sometimes when walking past guards, they will say "Let me guess, somebody took your Sweetroll?". An obvious reference to the opening of many Bethesda games.

Sweetroll References

The Guards in various cities will sometimes say "Let me guess... Someone stole your sweetroll." This is referring to the first Elder Scrolls game "Arena" where it is asked as a class-determining question. The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall also uses a sweetroll question as a class-determining question. The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind allows you the option of picking your class, or answering a series of questions to determine your class: if you choose to answer the questions, this will be one of them. Also references are to be found in the Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, where some NPC's may relate a story of a stolen sweetroll to you. This story is acted out in Fallout 3 when you are given a sweetroll by a lady, and then a bully proceeds to demand the sweetroll. Finally, the sweetroll reference appears in Skyrim. I have personally played all of these sequences and seen these references in each according game.

Minecraft Reference

As many know, Bethesda and Minecraft creator Notch clashed over the name "scrolls" a while ago. Bethesda left an easter egg in reference to it. At the top of the highest mountain in Skyrim (called The Throat of the World) you will find a secret weapon called the Notched Pickaxe as well as some Malachite ore."Be aware that the Notched Pickaxe was in previous Elder Scrolls games before Minecraft and Notch were popular, so it is likely that it has nothing to do with Notch or Minecraft." "Citation needed"

Batman: Begins Easter Egg

In the College of Winterhold, once you receive your room, if you look on the table next to the doorway of your room, there is a blue mountain flower which is identical to the one Batman needs to bring to the top of the mountain in Batman: Begins.

M'aiq the Liar

M'aiq is a long-standing NPC easter egg in Elder Scrolls games. He is again seen wandering many locations, offering words when spoken with. One particular reference is to The Elder Scroll 4: Oblivion, quoting many NPC's who discuss Mudcrabs far too often.

Headless Horseman

Throughout your adventures in Skyrim, a headless horseman ghost can be found wandering around. You have the option to "talk" to this ghost but nothing happens. If you follow this mysterious horseman, he will eventually say "finality" randomly while he is riding his horse, as well as saying "you are not welcome here" upon entering a new location with hostile enemies while traveling on foot. He leads you to a graveyard with a few skeletons and a dragur (Hamvir's Rest). He stands here, so it can be assumed that this is where he is buried. If you look at the grave to the left of the entrance you will find a skull and a magical helmet, most likely his.

While possibly unrelated, there is a glitch that causes the player's head to become invisible during the night. Nobody knows if this NPC has a purpose, but if you do find a purpose for this figure, please edit this section of the guide.

The Force Wasn't With Him

During the Companion Quest "Animal Extermination", you will travel to Bleakcoast Cave to clear out some Frost Trolls. Inside, there is one room where there are a bunch of bones laying around. If you look up, there is a torso sticking out of the ceiling. Directly below this, there is a glass greatsword. This is a reference to Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back.

Joss Whedon?

Among the many books in Skyrim, there is one that references writer and director, Joss Whedon's most recent film. A book can be found titled "The Cabin In The Woods", which is a direct reference to the identically named movie.

Poltergeist

After you complete the "House of Horrors" quest, locate the table in the abandoned house and you should find the chairs. The chairs are rearranged in a strange way, just like in the movie Poltergeist.

Katatonia

During the quest Darkness Returns, you can recover Nystrom's Journal, detailing a plot by two individuals to try and infiltrate the dungeon and its priests. The two are Nystrom and Anders, a reference to Anders Nystrom, guitarist and songwriter from Swedish goth rock band Katatonia.

The terms in the last paragraph: "He also mumbled some nonsensical phrases like 'night is the new day' and how he was the 'ghost of the sun.' I have no idea what these cryptic sentiments mean, but hopefully during tomorrow's ritual, Anders and I will put everything we've learned to the test." are references to multiple Katatonia albums and songs- the most obvious being the album Night is the New Day and the song "Ghost of the Sun" from the album Viva Emptiness.

Hidden Chest Dawnstar

In Dawnstar there is a hidden chest before the mine on the left in the middle of some rocks, inside the chest is a variety of items that are respawnable after a certain amount of time.

This chest, as well as many others (including the ones underneath Whiterun) is just the inventory of a shopkeeper. This one is believed to be a Khajiit caravan in/near Dawnstar.

Bioshock Reference

In most of the dwarven sactuaries found in Skyrim, you will bump into many holes that resemble the object were the little sisters would exit in order to meet with their Big Daddies and vice versa. Here is a video of this easter egg.

The Legend of Zelda Reference

After being ambushed by the Silver Hand and seeing Farkas transform into a werewolf, if you ask him if all the Companions are werewolves he will answer, "Not everybody, just the members of the Circle. It's a secret to everybody." The latter sentence is, of course, the famous line from the original Legend of Zelda.

The Shawshank Redemption Reference

Enthir, in the College of Winterhold, sells wares not allowed in the college. One of this dialogue options read "I understand you're an elf who knows how to get things," a reference to the movie The Shawshank Redemption.

Robert Frost reference

If you go to Riften and go to The Bee and the Barb there will be a guy asking to get a horse named Frost. Then you are giving promises to keep, which is a line from the poem Stopping by the woods on a snowy evening. You then travel through some woods to the black-briar estate. This refers to the line "whose woods these are".

Scandinavian Fairytale Reference

On the road from Dushnikh Yal, southwest of Markarth, to Dead Crone Rock, west of Markarth, there is a bridge. When approaching the bridge three goats will start running away, but under the bridge lies a dead troll. This is a reference to the Scandinavian/Nordic fairytale about the three goats outsmarting the troll living under the bridge.

Star Wars Expanded Universe References

There are a number of possible references to the Star Wars Expanded universe in Skyrim. It should also be noted that many of the following are similarities in name only, and have little to do with the corresponding characters that they are supposedly based off of.

Vilmarh Grahrk - In the Orc Camp Largashbur there is an Orc named Garakh.

The Sith - Sithis

Darth Bane's Rule of Two - In the Orc Camp Narzulbur the Orc Chief will tell how he became chief. He tells you that he killed his father in combat, and would train his offspring to eventually take his place one day, by the same means of combat. This is very similar the the Sith Rule of Two.

Sith Holocron - This may be a coincidence, but the Symbol for Zenithar (The black, shallow pyramid) bears a striking resemblance to a Sith Holocron.

Meeko Ghintee - To the East of Dragon Bridge, there is a shack called Meeko's Shack, and a dog called Meeko.

Obi-Wan quote - If you travel with the ghost of Lucien Lachance he will some times say "I feel a disturbance in the void" which is very similar to the phrase "I feel a disturbance in the force" from the Star Wars movies which is often mentioned by Jedi.

Episode IV Dialogue - Inside of Frostfruit Inn Erik can be heard talking to his father, with his father telling him "all I ask is that you stay on for one more season" and "that's just your mother's side in you." This is in reference to Uncle Owen's conversation with Luke in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

Owen and Beru Lars - This could be a coincidence, but the son of the Battle-Born family is named Lars.

When entering locations with a following campanion, they sometimes will say "I have a bad feeling about this." This has been a repeated quote used in the Star Wars movies as well as found the Expanded Universe.

Endon in Markarth will say "I'm a silversmith, like my father and his father before him," much like the line from Return of the Jedi; "I'm a Jedi, like my father before me."

Fairy Tale Reference

When doing the Thieves Guild quest Dampened Spirits, the player will come across a character named Hamelyn, who leads an army of Skeevers in the Honningbrew Meadery Basement. This is a reference to the folk tale of the Pied Piper of Hamelin, who used his music to rid the town of rats

Hangover Reference

In the quest A Night to Remember, The Daedric Prince Sanguine helps you remember a what you did the night before after a drinking contest with him, like in the movie Hangover.

Secret Chests

Go to Enthir's room in the Hall of Elements and hold a platter up to the wall on the left side of his bed. Push your character into the platter and you will move outside his room walls. Drop a Do Not Delete chest underneath you and land on it and then you will see chests surrounding you. Jump or place more Do Not Delete chests and you will reach them. Inside are all the vendors money, spells, items etc. Great way to get things for free! You can sell them too to make more money! Have fun.

Morrowind Easter Egg (Dawnguard Only)

Last night I was exploring the Soul Cairn in Dawnguard, a realm of Oblivion where souls that have been trapped and used end up.

Imagine my suprise when I bump into a familliar face, Jiub from Morrowind, who is the first person you meet when you wake up on the prison boat during the intro to that game.

He told me the story of how he became Saint Jiub the Eradicator of the Winged Menace. After his prison sentence was done, he devoted his life to hunting every cliff racer in existence to extinction. He was made a saint by the Tribunal Temple and decided to retire and live in Kvatch, where he was soul trapped by some angry Daedra during the invasion. And thus ended up in the Soul Cairn. Poor ol' Jiub.

So that's why there are no cliff racers to kill anymore. If I've ever heard a good reason for being made a saint, that's it.

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring

Toyrgs horn (a horn you get for a quest) looks like a exactly like the horn Boromir carried with him

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Temba Wide-Arm a potential marriage partner in Ivarstead is a reference to the phrase "Temba his arm's wide" from the episode "Darmok"